fmt(1) User Commands fmt(1)NAMEfmt - simple text formatters
SYNOPSISfmt [-cs] [-w width | -width] [inputfile...]
DESCRIPTIONfmt is a simple text formatter that fills and joins lines to produce
output lines of (up to) the number of characters specified in the -w
width option. The default width is 72. fmt concatenates the inputfiles
listed as arguments. If none are given, fmt formats text from the stan‐
dard input.
Blank lines are preserved in the output, as is the spacing between
words. fmt does not fill nor split lines beginning with a `.' (dot),
for compatibility with
nroff(1). Nor does it fill or split a set of contiguous non-blank
lines which is determined to be a mail header, the first line of which
must begin with "From".
Indentation is preserved in the output, and input lines with differing
indentation are not joined (unless -c is used).
fmt can also be used as an in-line text filter for vi(1). The vi com‐
mand:
!}fmt
reformats the text between the cursor location and the end of the para‐
graph.
OPTIONS-c Crown margin mode. Preserve the indentation of
the first two lines within a paragraph, and
align the left margin of each subsequent line
with that of the second line. This is useful
for tagged paragraphs.
-s Split lines only. Do not join short lines to
form longer ones. This prevents sample lines of
code, and other such formatted text, from being
unduly combined.
-w width | -width Fill output lines to up to width columns.
OPERANDS
inputfile Input file.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
See environ(5) for a description of the LC_CTYPE environment variable
that affects the execution of fmt.
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Availability │SUNWcsu │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
SEE ALSOnroff(1), vi(1), attributes(5), environ(5)NOTES
The -width option is acceptable for BSD compatibility, but it may go
away in future releases.
SunOS 5.10 9 May 1997 fmt(1)
